Editorial: Congress must lead on bailout discussion

Tuesday

Sep 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2008 at 10:53 AM

In the end, the House chose re-election over leadership. In a shocking development yesterday, the House defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue plan for our nation’s financial system. Most analysts advised that inaction could result in catastrophic economic consequences and yesterday’s stock market plunge suggested they were right. Clearly, our nation faces a dire economic challenge.

In the end, the House chose re-election over leadership.

In a shocking development yesterday, the House defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue plan for our nation’s financial system. Most analysts advised that inaction could result in catastrophic economic consequences and yesterday’s stock market plunge suggested they were right. Clearly, our nation faces a dire economic challenge.

That doesn’t seem to matter to House members who face re-election in five weeks and fear incurring the wrath of their constituents. Several on Congress have reported that the phone calls are averaging 100 to 1 against a bailout.

"We're all worried about losing our jobs," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. "Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it — not me.'"

It seems congressional members know what is right; they are just afraid to do it.

This is a passionate, angry, frustrating issue. We all are mad at the thought of writing a check to bailout the fat cats on Wall Street who played loose and reckless.

In our opinion, the government must do this bailout. This isn’t a time for anger and hate. This is a time for reason and prudent action. We know the aid comes at a cost that is incomprehensible; but it is like medicine that isn’t very tasty -- it must be taken in order to get better.

The Dow Jones industrials plunged 777 points after the House rejection. Our readers will most certainly awaken to grim financial news from overseas markets Tuesday. Further delay on the approval of a rescue plan will cause the markets to drop faster than a joy rider on a roller coaster.

We elect lawmakers to lead. We don’t pick them so they can have job security. We choose people to represent us and do what it right given the best information available to them. That data says our country needs this bailout. We know there are no guarantees. Congress could spend months developing and refining a plan, but even then there are no promises that a bailout will work. We simply do not have months or even weeks to figure this out. Washington must act now.

Yesterday’s vote wasn’t bold and brave. We think it was safe and cowardly. We implore our leaders to forget about their re-election chances and get the financial system bailout done.